Book Review: Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training

Posted on March 17, 2016

Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training is a great book for beginners and advanced lifters that want to get strong. It’s about mastering the basics. It’s easy to read and has a bunch of illustrations.

Each chapter teaches you a major lift. The squat, the bench press, the deadlift, the press, and the power clean.

Like in most sports, mastering the basics is sometimes all you need.

Mark Rippetoe explains that when lifting it’s important to understand the most efficient path at which the bar travels. Any deviation from the path means a huge increase in the load on the muscle.

Imagine yourself holding a dumbbell with your arm extended over your head VS holding that same dumbell in front of your face. As the dumbbell deviates from the centre line of the body, that weight will get progressively heavier on the shoulder.

From hand grip placement in the bench press to foot positioning in the squat even advanced lifters are sure to learn a few good tricks. Highly recommend this book to anyone that works with free weights.